Many complex systems such as large transport aircraft are composed of multiple systems and each system may contain several hundred thousand parts. In the case of aircraft, these various systems are frequently analyzed by stakeholders such as airlines, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), part suppliers and other parties for a number of different reasons. For example, these stakeholders may analyze systems in order to troubleshoot problems that may be occurring on a specific part on a specific aircraft. In another example, stakeholders may analyze systems to spot trends of problems occurring on specific parts on fleets of similar aircraft. And in another example, stakeholders may analyze systems to recognize issues/problems that may be related to multiple parts on multiple systems on multiple aircraft on multiple fleets of aircraft.
Various systems and methods currently exist for analyzing specific types of problems or trends to specific aircraft systems. But these current systems and methods do not allow the user to aggregate information from multiple information systems related to multiple aircraft systems, and to simultaneously display the information in an easily-interpretable manner. Therefore, it may be desirable to have an apparatus and method that takes into account at least some of the issues discussed above, as well as possibly other issues.